During a conversation with Eric at Soldier Systems, he had a great idea about giving some background as to how some of our products were originally designed. Sharing the Sea Story about the background, whilst sipping fine scotch. We will start this series off with how we started 215 GearTM . We go back to 2007, I was 10 years into my military service. My wife was working for Reebok, managing a team of field representatives. This was until Reebok merged with a larger company, with many programs being streamlined prior to the merger. This resulted in the decision for her to either relocate to the corporate office, or stay in Virginia without a job. I was always a gear guy, never being satisfied with what we were issued. For those in at that time frame, most of us were taking the standard field uniform and relocating pockets and adding Velcro. This was all prior to Crye Precision doing what is now the standard for a field uniform. I knew how to sew, but using industrial sewing machines and bartackers was foreign to me. Luckily I had a friend that went to Riggers school and had access to the paraloft. There, we were able to modify our gear. This knowledge would come into play later.
Faced with what to do with the current situation, I had the idea to start a company around making items that were not currently out there for the war fighter. If you were a startup in 2007, we hit a financial low. Banks were unwilling to make loans, the whole thing was a mess. 215 was started in a spare room over the garage, with one sewing machine. We still have that machine to this day, a constant reminder of the humble beginnings we had. We decided early on to do USA manufacturing, which was important to us. In my spare time, I would design, prototype and iterate products. I then turned to a contract sewing manufacturer to produce our first products. At the time, they had 4 major locations, down from a high of 12. With no loans available, we used personal credit cards to purchase raw materials for the products. Maxing credit cards and paying them, maxing and paying them. I’d like to take the opportunity to say, do not do this as a strategy. Obviously that was a huge gamble. After doing this for some time our bank finally gave us a line of credit to move forward with bigger purchases.
We quickly outgrew the spare room and garage, moving to our first industrial warehouse. We stayed there until 2011. Our manufacturing partner was continuing to downsize and it was now harder to quickly iterate our product line. By his time, it was time to decide the greater 215 destiny. We decide to go all in, moving into two large units in another industrial park. We purchased our own equipment and began hiring to move all production in-house. Funny enough, the week we got the keys and began moving, Hurricane Irene hit Virginia Beach. Additionally, I was in a cast from hip to ankle from knee reconstructive surgery. There is nothing like mopping up standing water in your new building. I invested heavily in laser cutting and computer controlled pattern sewing equipment. Knowing as a small company, anything we can do to stay productive and repeatable is key. We stayed there until 2015, when we purchased our own building and land. This would allow us to grow and expand the business, as we see fit. Fast forward to now, I retired mid 2021, 28 years of service. The recent focus has been on bringing metal CNC fabrication and Cerakote spraying into the mix. One of the best things about my military time was always learning new things and overcoming big challenges. There is something awe inspiring about taking a block of metal and murdering it violently with large machinery. I like to think of it as art therapy for the gunfighter.
215 has always been a family owned and operated business. None of this would be possible without my wife. Obviously someone had to run the company while I was training and deployed. We truly are humbled by the support and patronage of the people and units over the years. We have always prided ourselves with providing out of the box, timely solutions for the people doing the job. Our growth has only been because of the people reading this now.
– Jim V
Founder, 215 Gear
